Stuck in a Rut

I have not been blogging much lately because I have not been running. I am not interested in running lately. During the last 8 weeks of stress I have dropped a few pounds - yea! But I cannot seem to get my head into the running mode.

Soon I will return to running and blogging much more regularly. I will try to post something at least once a week over the next few weeks but it might be mostly family stuff. I tend to be on facebook a bit more now that I am not blogging as much. You can always follow me on facebook - just find me I am Tiffany Ziegenhorn O'Connell. If you want to be my friend on facebook look me up and send me a quick note as to you who are - "I follow your blog" works just fine.

Homemade Applesauce

Check out my food blog here for an easy homemade applesauce recipe.

Awesome Giveaway

Check out Tall Mom's Blog here for a super awesome giveaway! It is worth your time to check it out!

Question - Help Me Please

This is a question for anyone in a hiring position in corporate America.

Should resume's be one page or two?

When I first started creating a resume the standard was one page but now it seems as if it is moving to two pages. I have been under the assumption that two pages in just fine but today at work I was involved in a debate where this person was always instructed to throw away resumes if they were more than one page. So what do you think - 1 or 2?

I'm Back and Boy What a Month

So the last 6 weeks have had its up and downs. It all started at the beginning of August when my hubby left his full time and his full monthly paycheck job and took a commissions only position with another real estate company in town running the property management side of things. I was worried about finances but since our house was under contract I figured we could make it work since I was making good money at a local law office as a paralegal. On the upside of this move my hubby is much happier and really enjoys the people who he works with.

Then a couple of weeks later I was let go at the law office. Things have been really slow the last few months and I made the most money of the three office girls so the attorneys decided to let me go. Now I was really worried and I felt awful. I really enjoyed my job at the attorney's office and I really enjoyed who I worked for. It was an awful blow and I was miserable. Gunnison does not have a lot of available jobs since we are such a small town and nothing available close to what I was making.

During all of this time the contract on the house was moving along smoothly. We thought about moving to Boulder and even went to Boulder to look around. Ultimately we decided to stay in Gunnison since we had to decide NOW and we had no jobs in Boulder. After we made that decision we both felt as if we had a huge weight lifted off of our chests. Maybe we just belong in Gunnison - after all we have been in this valley for 13 years. One more year of living in the Gunnison valley and I will be able to say that I have lived here longer than Kansas.

So I have been unemployed for about 3 weeks. Thankfully my parents helped us out because we needed to pay money to close on the house - not much but with neither of us working it was too much for us to handle. I started waitressing at a local restaurant where the normal tip is 10 or 15%. I have a little trouble with this because I have always been a standard 20% tipper because I know how hard waitresses work - I knew this even before I became one. Oh well, it is a job that is needed.

On Thursday of last week I interviewed for a great position with the ski resort in Crested Butte. I would love that job, but the only or biggest downfall is the drive. This is a problem since we only have one car but I could probably make things work and the pay is what I am looking for. Also, on last Thursday a office manager type position was opened in a local dental office where I knew all of the staff except for the dentist. His dental assistant and hygienist are the nicest people you could find. I interviewed with him and he hired me. It is about $4 a hour less than I was making at the attorney's office and not quite full time but I am able to waitress two lunch shifts a week and a shift on the weekends.

So I was hoping once the house sold finances would be much better but they are starting to look like they are going to be just as tight as they where. But I am still looking for work and we will do our best to make things work out. We have rented a very nice 3 bedroom rental. I also love living in town where I hardly drive. I would rather ride my bike everywhere and everywhere is less than five minutes on a bike - PERFECT! I can even run home on much lunch break and take Sky for a run with me and still have time to get back to work. The only downfall of where we are renting in not having a fenced in yard but at the same time I have been taking the dogs for lots of walks. Exercise for me and with waitressing and a stressful and busy past few weeks I have lost almost 5 pounds.

Back in a Little While

I have not blogged in a while now. I have a lot of stuff going on and I am not ready to discuss it. Let's just say that I am hoping September is a much better month. I will be back when I am ready to talk.

Major Freak Out

Today before lunch I went to start up my Garmin and it would not come up. It was dead and nothing would make it turn on. I even put it on the charger and it would not come up. I started really freaking out. I run much slower without it and how on earth am I suppose to do a 16 mile long run this weekend without? If you follow me on facebook you will see the freakouts I dealt with earlier.

But I had my lunch hour and I was in my workout clothes so I was going to workout. I was not in the mindset to start running so I did about a 30 minute bike ride and then a 25 minute run. I was much calmer at the end of the workout. My sister told me to go to their website and look up warranty information. I did this and I found out who to re-set it and now I am back in business - yea! Thanks Sis! My husband did make the comment - Now I see where your priorities are in life!

The Garmin is now working, and it will be ready for my long run Sunday morning.

On the house front - let's just say I never want to sell a house again. This house has been so stressful. The appraiser screwed up and said it was worth about $15,000 less than it was under contract for so I started crying and freaking out and called the bank regarding a short sale just to get this deal done. Then we saw the appraisal and saw that he had the wrong sales price so we got that issue fixed. Today was suppose to be the big deadline deal but the buyer's do not have loan approval yet. So we extended the loan approval deadline for another week but we were also able to move up closing a week. So keep your fingers crossed that everything goes to plan. We have started to look for a house but not too hard yet. I have not started packing anything just de-cluttering and cleaning out cabinets.

Life in Colorado

Yep - It is that time of year. When I start complaining about the cold and it is only mid-August. I know a lot of you are dealing with a heat wave but you could just come to Gunnison and cool off. On my bike ride to work I was thinking gloves would be nice!

Changes, Changes, Changes

I have not blogged in a little while mostly because we have had or are having many changes in my house and I am still not quite sure what to think about them.

The first change is that my husband is no longer with his employer of the last 5 years. He has moved to a new real estate agency in town. This change was much needed and he is very happy with his new office. The downside of this change is that he went from a nice paycheck every month to commissions only. Money has always been tight but now it is tighter than ever.

We are selling our house. Our house has been on and off the market for the past few years. We would love to be able to stay in our house but we cannot afford it. The house is under contract. I have not blogged about the house being under contract before because I was waiting for us to pass inspection objection - and now we have done so. We have to fix some items with the roof but nothing that is too scary or that will cost too much money. I want to sell the house but I don't. It is too expensive but it is an old house with a huge beautiful lot on the water. When I really think about selling the house I think of all the memories it has in it. We have owned it for almost 6 years.

Here is a link to see pictures of our yard this spring when snow fell in May.

Here is a link to see some general pictures of our house and yard.

Here are some really pretty pictures of the yard that Joe put on realtor.com.

Yes the yard is big, beautiful and private but as we like to say we just bought our dreamhouse too early in life. One day again we will have a wonderful house and property.

I have slowly been running again. I want to do the Mountaire Marathon on September 19th here is Gunnison. I don't know if I can but I am gonna do it. I might have to take the next day off since I might not be able to walk! I did 14 miles yesterday and it felt good. The last 3 miles were tough but I "got er' done"! I have four weekends left so I am hoping to get in 2 more long runs, 16 miles and 20 miles and rest two of the weekends and then I am doing it. Wish me luck!

Morning Runner - I am not

Lately it has been pretty warm and humid during my lunch runs or I have been needing to use my lunch hour for other things. I have been getting up around 5 in the morning, having breakfast and then trying to head outside for a morning run. First I have to walk the first mile or so because of the morning pain in my heel (I know plantar fasciitis - but I am ignoring it until after my first marathon in September.) and then once I start running my head is just not in the game.

I have always wanted to be that runner who gets in a 10 mile run before work but that is just not going to be me. Oh well - it will be in my dreams.

Crested Butte Featured on MSN

Check out this link on MSN. It features a house for sale in Crested Butte, 30 minutes to the North of Gunnison and where I lived for about 5 years. I wish we could afford to live in Crested Butte instead of Gunnison because it is just beautiful up there and you are truly in the mountains.

I just get excited when ever my neck of the woods gets featured on things!

Running Update

I have now run 14 days straight. Today was my shortest run with 1.32 miles but I also have determined that I hate running in the morning. It is just not my thing. It takes me a good mile to get all of the aches and pains to go away and then I finally start enjoying it. I do enjoy the coolness of the day and the early morning feel to things though. I have always wanted to be that person who gets in 10 miles before work. I don't think that will ever happen, at least not until I do not have to be at work until 9 or 10 in the morning.

Even though it is hot right now I think I am going to walk in the mornings and really run at lunch.

Long Run on Lower Loop

Last Sunday we headed up to Crested Butte. I did my "long" run on the lower loop. It was a struggle to get it done and I should have taken the time to stop thinking about how bad I felt and to look around. Joe and the kids waited for me to finish at the bottom of Gunsight Pass where the trails ends up.



The girls had a blast playing in the river. They did good about not getting too wet until Lily lost her balance and sat down in the water!

I am so done!

Land of Make Believe - Vacation - Part 5

On Thursday we went to the Land of Make Believe in Hope, New Jersey. I really enjoyed the drive to the place because we took a lot of back roads and two lane highways to get there. It was beautiful. I never knew so many trees and farms existed in New Jersey. It was like being in Pennsylvania - well we practically were since PA was only a few miles away.

The Land of Make Believe is made for little kids. There is one section with a bunch of kiddy rides and another section with a pool, lazy river, and slides.

Here is my niece, Alexa.

Don't I have the cutest kids?

Mikayla loved riding all of the rides. This place was perfect for her.

My sister in law, Sue and Alexa.

My brother in law, Chris and Kyle.

Having fun in the pool.

Can you believe this lady gave birth to twins 18 months ago? She looks great!

Kyle - You gotta love his facial expressions and his "talking"

Mikayla was able to see Santa in July!

Lily wanted nothing to do with Santa.

When I saw this picture the first thing I thought was, Why is Sue holding Lily? Then I looked at the outfit and said to myself, that is not an outfit that Lily has. Oh wait - that is Alexa. It is those blue eyes.

Lily wanted to go on a ride but as soon as it started quickly decided that was the wrong decision.

Mikayla of course had a blast.

We had a great time at the Land of Make Believe and I see us going back next time we are in New Jersey.

That is my last post on New Jersey - it took me awhile to get all of them in. I am glad Joe took so many pictures because I am horrible at remembering the camera and then if I do remember it I forget to take pictures.

Homemade Pancakes

So I am sitting at my desk and I am in need of my 9:30 snack. I brought some homemade pancakes to work and this is what I just enjoyed and boy was it good!

Homemade Pancakes
basic from scratch pancake recipe
plus - wholewheat flour instead of white
ground flaxseed meal
all natural peanut butter (nothing but peanuts)
blueberries

over homemade yogurt with a dash of honey.

I will have to do this again!

Bronx zoo - Vacation Part 4

On Wednesday of the week we were gone we went Bronx Zoo. On Wednesdays it is pay what you can - and that you can. That is my kind of admission. Joe, the girls and I were the only ones who went. No one else wanted to deal with the heat and the twins would not get anything out of yet. It was hot but since there were plenty of trees it was bearable.

We saw plenty of animals to keep us busy. Here is a snow leopard (I think).

The polar bear was really cool. I kept hoping he would dive into the water for a swim but he decided to take a nap instead.

The seals were swimming all over the place. This spot was out in the open with no trees and therefore hot. I really wanted to dive into the water with them.

Lily relaxing.

Notice the big gorilla right behind Mikayla.

Gariffs are in the background.

A monkey's rear-end in the back ground.

Zebra

Mikayla's first animal site of the day. Lily kept calling it a cow. But she is also the one who moos at cows and horses whenever we drive past them on the ranches that surround town.

Lily was being Lily and did not want her picture taken.

We really enjoyed the zoo but I am glad that Joe drove instead of me. Driving over the George Washington Bridge was scary, too many cars, and the car lanes in New Jersey are way too small for me. I prefer the big open car lanes of the west. Then we also got lost so we toured the Bronx on the way to the zoo.

Long Run

I am finally getting back to running. I took a month off and I don't think I helped any of my injuries, but I am ready to get running and I need to get in shape for the full marathon in mid-September. I ran every day this week except for Thursday. My goal was to run everyday with a minimum run of 2 miles.

Today, we headed up to Crested Butte because I wanted to run the Lower Loop. It was beautiful, hot, pretty wildflowers and just great. I was really out of shape. I was hoping to get in 7 to 8 miles and I finished with 6.2. I got a lot of running to do to get back in shape but I will get there.

Vacation Part 3

At Grandma's house you can always find misc. fun stuff. Here is a pair of glasses that she has for Mikayla to play with. Lily kept putting them on and calling them her goggles.



We spent two nights at Joe's brother's house, Chris. We took over their master bedroom and one morning Lily woke up and was playing happily in her "nest" on the floor. I was shocked because she has never done this. I looked over at Mikayla and she was laughing quietly to herself because Lily was being so funny. What a wonderful way to start the day. A little bit later the girls started playing together on the couch in the bedroom.


Chris and Suzanne have a long living room and they have turned one section in the kids play room. Everyone had fun playing with all of the toys.